Fucking Fabulous

The All Over Body Spray version of Fucking Fabulous keeps the composition that made the original notorious. Tom Ford publishes six key materials for the can: bitter almond oil, tonka resinoid, orris accord, cashmeran, leather accord and clary sage oil. Clary sage opens it with a herbal, slightly bitter greenness, and almost immediately the bitter almond arrives, which is the note that decides the fragrance for most people. It reads as marzipan to some and as cherry cough syrup to others, and there is no middle ground. The heart is where the money went: orris gives that expensive, cold, powdery-root quality that no cheap fragrance can imitate, and cashmeran adds a soft musky wood that keeps the powder from going stiff. Leather and tonka close it, warm and slightly sweet rather than animalic, which is why the original wears smoother than its name suggests. At body spray concentration the almond is less shocking and the powder is more prominent, so the whole thing feels closer to a soft leathered iris than a statement. Expect an hour or two of clear scent and almost no trail. Autumn and winter, evenings, and layering under the Eau de Parfum. As a sampling route into a very expensive Private Blend it is a sensible purchase.